INDEPENDENCE: The trade was made official on Saturday, but Kevin Love says he committed to playing for the Cavaliers in July.

Within hours of announcing he was returning to Cleveland, LeBron James reached out to Love to gauge his interest in joining him.

“I’m in,” Love told him, and the creation of the Cavaliers’ dynamic Big Three was underway.

Love addressed reporters Tuesday for the first time since the Cavs acquired him in a three-team deal over the weekend. He can be a free agent after each of the next two seasons, but Love said he is committed to Cleveland.

The construction of the NBA’s newest Big Three is complete. Kevin Love is officially a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The much-anticipated three-team deal was completed Saturday, the Cavs announced, the first day Andrew Wiggins was eligible to be traded after signing his rookie contract. As expected, the Cavs shipped out Wiggins, Anthony Bennett and a 2014 first-round pick (which previously belonged to the Miami Heat) in a three-team deal that also included the Philadelphia 76ers. The Cavs received Love, a three-time All-Star whose 26.1 points per game last season set a career high and ranked fourth in the league (directly behind LeBron James).

“Kevin joining the Cavaliers represents a very special and unique opportunity for our team,” Cavs General Manager David Griffin said in a release. “At only 25, Kevin has already firmly established himself as one of the NBA’s elite players and his talent, versatility and fit are major parts of our team’s vision for success.”

Love, who turns 26 in two weeks, is a fierce rebounder and arguably the best stretch 4 in the game. But he struggles defensively and was never able to carry the Timberwolves to the playoffs in the competitive Western Conference in any of his six seasons there. That isn’t an issue anymore. Not only is Love moving to the weaker Eastern Conference, now he’ll have fellow All-Stars James and Kyrie Irving as teammates.

Kyrie Irving made the United States national team, as expected, and will travel to Spain to compete in the FIBA World Cup.

Team USA announced the final roster in the early hours of Saturday morning. It included Irving and former Most Valuable Player Derrick Rose at point guard, but omitted another Rookie of the Year in Damian Lillard.

Irving totaled 29 points and 15 assists in Team USA’s three exhibition games, including Friday’s 112-86 victory against Puerto Rico. The roster cuts of Lillard, Gordon Hayward, Chandler Parsons and Kyle Korver were announced hours later.

USA Basketball Chairman Jerry Colangelo called this “the most difficult selection process we’ve gone through” since he took control of the program in 2005.

As the official TV home of the Cleveland Cavaliers, FOX Sports Ohio is pleased to announce it will carry the maximum number (70) of Cavs games eligible for local broadcast during the 2014-15 regular season.

Of the Cavs complete 82-game schedule, FOX Sports Ohio will NOT be able to televise 12 games due to national television exclusivity rights. See the complete schedule of FOX Sports Ohio’s games below.

The Cavaliers signed undrafted rookie center Alex Kirk on Monday. Kirk, the 7-foot, 245-pounder who played on the Cavs’ summer league team, averaged 10 points and 6.8 rebounds during three seasons at New Mexico.

He averaged 13.3 points and 8.7 rebounds last season and was named to the Mountain West Conference’s defense team.

Kirk averaged 5.2 points and 3.4 rebounds in five games with the Cavs’ summer league team. After trading Tyler Zeller and losing Spencer Hawes in free agency, the Cavs have spent the last few weeks shopping for another big.

The Cavs now have 14 players under contract, but that number is likely to continue fluctuating in the coming weeks.

“I don’t plan on going anywhere,” James said Friday night during the Welcome Home LeBron event at InfoCision Stadium. “I don’t have the energy to do it again.”

James structured his contract with the Cavs to allow him to again enter free agency after each of the next two seasons, but implied Friday that was a maneuver to take advantage of the league’s next television contract, when max salaries could increase dramatically.

“At the end of the day I’m a businessman as well,” James said, “and I know what’s going on in our league.”

The new-look Cavaliers will open the preseason Oct. 5 against coach David Blatt’s former team, Maccabi Tel Aviv, before departing for a highly anticipated reunion between LeBron James and the Miami Heat in Brazil.

The Cavs will play five of their seven preseason games in the state of Ohio, including stops in Cincinnati and Columbus, in the schedule released Friday. They will play seven preseason games and conclude the preseason Oct. 22 at the Memphis Grizzlies.

The Minnesota Timberwolves have agreed on a trade that will send All-Star forward Kevin Love to the Cavs for Andrew Wiggins, Anthony Bennett and a protected 2015 first-round pick, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reported this morning.

The report says the Cavs have a “firm agreement” that Love will sign a five-year, $120 million contract extension to remain with Cleveland next summer.

The trade cannot be announced until Aug. 23, one month after Wiggins signed his rookie contract. Wiggins was the first overall pick in this year’s NBA Draft.

In recent days, reports said the Cavs remained the lone team in the running to acquire Love, who will team with LeBron James to make the Cavs the favorite for the 2014-15 NBA title.